Powering a community-scale DC grid to achieve zero emissions in remote areas

为社区规模的直流电网供电，实现偏远地区的零排放

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-03611
• 负责人: Ho, NgaiMan(Carl)
• 金额: $ 2.84万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=752120
• 关键词: Powering; community; scale; DC; grid

Canada is part of a global movement that has committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. One way to reduce emissions is to produce electricity using Renewable Energy Sources (RES) like solar, rather than fossil fuels. This is particularly relevant to communities in remote and developing areas, which rely on diesel to provide electricity and often have no access to the main grid due to the prohibitive costs of building transmission lines in remote locations. In Manitoba, 70% of the Indigenous population lives in the Northern part of the province, far from the main cities, and this has led to inequity in terms of energy access. An off-grid power system (PS) based on distributed RES, e.g. solar, and Energy Storage System (ESS) is an alternative solution to provide electric power for houses. However, the ESS capacity of a single house is limited which creates issues of energy availability. This limitation can be overcome by developing community-scale Microgrid (MG) infrastructures. To achieve this, houses could be inter-connected and connected to central RES and ESS, and smart control mechanisms can be employed to regulate the efficient use and stability of power in the MG. Direct Current (DC) distribution instead of conventional Alternating Current (AC) grid network would be used to avoid unnecessary losses in power conversion and transmission. There are challenges to the design and evaluation of a DC MG. Community-scale MGs must be isolated from house-scale Sub-MGs to avoid safety and noise issues. Power Electronics (PE) Transformers represent a solution for interfacing the DC grids. Similarly, efficient solar and ESS converters have to be designed that are compatible with a DC grid. Energy coordination within the community-scale DC MG requires advanced machine learning algorithms to maintain and predict energy availability within the grid. It is well-known that there is a large technology gap that lies between simulation and practical systems, as there are many non-ideal components in power apparatuses. A PE based Power-Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) platform can help to bridge the technical gap by providing a semi-physical system for evaluation of novel DC MG designs in a lab. A 10kW MG PHIL system will be constructed to run in a lab. The MG prototype will simulate a small-scale community PS which integrates RES, ESS and Sub-MGs in houses with a demonstration of the control capability of newly designed controllers. This innovative, small, efficient, practical and fully controllable MG demonstrator will support the transfer of these technologies to industry. The proposed program will train 12 HQP (4 PhD, 3 MSc and 5 BSc), who will gain practical experience with PE and PS. The proposed system will facilitate technology and business development for both real time simulator manufacturers and MG providers in Canada. Furthermore, it will help Canada achieve power equity for all citizens and still achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

加拿大是致力于到2050年实现温室气体净零排放的全球运动的一部分。减少排放的一种方法是使用太阳能等可再生能源(RE)发电，而不是使用化石燃料。这与偏远和发展中地区的社区尤其相关，这些社区依赖柴油供电，而且由于在偏远地区修建输电线路的成本过高，往往无法接入主电网。在马尼托巴省，70%的土著人口生活在该省北部，远离主要城市，这导致了能源获取方面的不平等。基于分布式能源(如太阳能)和储能系统(ESS)的离网电力系统(PS)是为家庭提供电力的替代解决方案。然而，单一房屋的ESS能力有限，这就产生了能源可用性的问题。这一限制可以通过开发社区规模的微电网(MG)基础设施来克服。为了实现这一点，可以将房屋相互连接并连接到中央RE和ESS，并且可以使用智能控制机制来调节MG的电力的高效使用和稳定性。为了避免电能转换和输电过程中不必要的损耗，将采用直流配电代替传统的交流电网。DC MG的设计和评估存在挑战。社区规模的MG必须与房屋规模的子MG隔离，以避免安全和噪音问题。电力电子(PE)变压器是连接直流电网的一种解决方案。同样，高效的太阳能和ESS转换器必须设计成与直流电网兼容。社区规模的DC MG中的能源协调需要先进的机器学习算法来维护和预测电网中的能源可用性。众所周知，由于电力设备中存在许多非理想元件，仿真系统与实际系统之间存在着很大的技术差距。基于PE的功率硬件在环(PHIL)平台可以通过在实验室中为新型DC MG设计的评估提供半物理系统来帮助弥合技术差距。一个10kW的MG Phil系统将在实验室中运行。MG原型将模拟一个小型社区PS，它集成了住宅中的RES、ESS和Sub-MGs，并演示了新设计的控制器的控制能力。这种创新、小巧、高效、实用、完全可控的MG演示器将支持这些技术向工业转移。拟议的计划将培训12名HQP(4名博士，3名硕士和5名理科学士)，他们将获得PE和PS的实践经验。拟议的系统将促进加拿大实时模拟器制造商和MG供应商的技术和业务发展。此外，它将帮助加拿大实现所有公民的电力公平，并在2050年前实现净零排放。